Brace for more power cuts: Minister

ENERGY and Power Development deputy minister Magna Mudyiwa yesterday urged consumers to brace for more power cuts owing to a breakdown of machinery at the Hwange Thermal Power Station.

Mudyiwa was responding to questions from legislators who wanted to find out when normal supplies could be restored.

This follows rolling power cuts lasting several hours that have hit the country.

“I don’t know when this load-shedding will end, but we can only reduce it through various interventions that we are doing,” she said.

“The electricity we are generating in the country is not enough for everyone.

“We have challenges at our Hwange Power Station because of breakdowns. We have three units that we are using at the Hwange Power Station that are generating less than 300 megawatts.”

Hwange has an installed capacity of 920 megawatts.

“So we are importing electricity from other countries, but we are trying by all means to make sure that the other six units are able to function to make sure that the electricity supply is restored,” she added.

This comes as Zesa Holdings employees have threatened to down tools as they press for a salary review.

The Zimbabwe Energy Workers Union (Zewu) on Wednesday wrote to Zesa management calling for a wage increase.

“At the end of last year, workers in the lowest grade were earning $14 000, which was far below the poverty datum line. We are demanding the company to pay 100% salary increments backdated to last year,” Zewu general-secretary Martin Chikuni wrote in a letter dated February, 14 2021.

When contacted for comment, Zesa executive chairman Sydney Gata last night said he was out of office.-newsday